Yemen’s Houthi regime said it would target US ships following a wave of airstrikes ordered by Washington that reportedly killed at least 53 people.
The US said it would continue attacking the Yemen-based rebel group until it ended its attacks on shipping.
The group has not attacked a merchant ship since December, prior to US President Donald Trump’s administration.
But the Houthis will “confront escalation with escalation” and would target US naval vessels and ships, according to a statement by Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi.
The attacks launched by the US on Saturday represent the largest military operation since Trump came into power. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said that the campaign would be unrelenting.
“The minute the Houthis say we’ll stop shooting at your ships, we’ll stop shooting at your drones,” he told Fox News.
Yemen military spokesman Yahya Qasim Saree said on Monday that the group had launched a new attack on the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman in the Red Sea.
The US said its warplanes shot down 11 drones on Sunday but said none of them came close to the ship.
The Houthis suspended their campaign in January against commercial ships other than Israeli-owned vessels in response to the Gaza peace deal.
The announcement followed weeks of comparative calm with no ships attacked in 2025.
The group said last week that it would resume targeting Israeli ships – effectively a restating of its current policy but was seen as a stepping up of tensions.
Its health ministry reported at least 53 dead in the US air attacks that followed.
In comments Sunday, the Houthi leader said: “As long as the American enemy continues its aggression against our country, its battleships, aircraft carriers and naval vessels will be targeted by drones and missiles.
Escalation options
“However, it will also be subject to the maritime navigation ban as long as it continues its aggression.
“We also still have escalation options. If it continues its aggression, we will move to additional escalation options, God willing.”
"Stopping the Houthis attacks on commercial shipping has proved challenging since the offset in November 2023 and we believe that the US ramping up attacks are unlikely to lead to a swift return to normalised trade through the Suez Canal," said Fearnley Securities.
The investment bank said Suez Canal transits saw a limited uptick on the back of the ceasefire in January and the developments over the weekend should therefore lead to limited changes to fundamentals.
Fearnley reminded clients in a note that containers and car carriers are the segments most affected by a potential reopening of Suez, potentially reducing tonne-mile demand by 10% and 7%.
"Both segments are currently seeing muted freight rate development from waning consumer spending, we believe," analysts Fredrik Dybwad and Nils Thommesen said.
And with a high orderbook, they argue risk is tilted towards the downside regardless of Red Sea transits not normalising in the medium term.
The Houthi group launched more than 110 attacks on ships after November 2023, killing four seafarers and leading to the constructive total loss of five ships.
They also held the 25-strong crew of the 5,100-ceu car carrier Galaxy Leader for 14 months.
Despite the ceasefire, most Western shipping companies have continued to avoid the Suez Canal and Red Sea because of concerns about further attacks.
But war risk insurance levels had dropped in recent weeks encouraging some tanker owners to haul Indian fuel to Europe via the Red Sea and Suez Canal, according to shipbroker Braemar.
Trump urged Iran to stop supporting the Houthis, after imposing further sanctions on the Iranian oil trade and returning to his policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran.
Russia, Iran and the United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres all called for an end to the attacks in Yemen.(Copyright)
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